[01/23/08 - 01:38 PM]Bravo's New Pop Chart Takes the Temperature of America in Lifestyle Categories Including Fashion, Entertainment, Food and Design "The establishment of Bravo's Pop Chart, underscores the network's position as the leading one-stop lifestyle resource for anything and everything on the minds of television viewers," said Bravo's Tony Cardinale.

[via press release from Bravo]

BRAVO'S NEW POP CHART TAKES THE TEMPERATURE OF AMERICA IN LIFESTYLE CATEGORIES INCLUDING FASHION, ENTERTAINMENT, FOOD AND DESIGN

Marie Osmond Tops Martha Stewart and Julia Roberts As the Quintessential Female Homemaker and Bill Clinton Edges Out Brad Pitt As The Best Male "Housewife"

NEW YORK � January 22, 2008 � In the very first installment of Bravo's newly established Pop Chart, the network reveals that Americans have some strong opinions on the most important role in the family � being a housewife. This study, the first in a quarterly series produced by the Bravo Media Research Lab, was timed to coincide with the network's finale of the hit series, "The Real Housewives of Orange County," the series' reunion special airing on Jan. 29, and news of the latest addition to the successful franchise, "The Real Housewives of New York City" (set for a March premiere).

"The establishment of Bravo's Pop Chart, underscores the network's position as the leading one-stop lifestyle resource for anything and everything on the minds of television viewers," said Tony Cardinale, Vice President, Research, Bravo. "We will survey a cross sampling of Americans to test their opinions and see what resonates most with our audience in the categories of food, fashion, beauty, design and pop culture."

According to the survey, Americans are inspired by the very animated homemaking skills of Marge Simpson who, with 36% of the vote, handily beat out competition from Desperate Housewives' Lynette (20%), Bree (19%) and Gabrielle (15%), as their favorite housewife on television. But although they have their favorites, only 8% of Americans think that the current batch of television shows accurately portray the typical American housewife, with a whopping 41% saying that television "makes being a housewife seem better than it actually is." 51% of those polled also felt that the term housewife was misused.

When it comes to who would make the ultimate housewife among celebrity males, women seem to have a real soft spot for Brad Pitt. The Academy Award nominee's loving father image gave him top honors (25%) followed by Will Smith (22%) and Matthew Broderick (22%). But even though Brad won women's hearts, he didn't do as well with the boys' club. Men polled actually chose former President Bill Clinton as their leading house husband by a slim margin of 20% vs. 18%.

Marie Osmond, who passed out on "Dancing with the Stars," passed over her competitors in the category asking which celebrity classified as a housewife. The '70s variety star stood strong against screen siren Julia Roberts (26%) and domestic diva Martha Stewart (22%) with a whopping 35%. And who had the distinction of falling into the bottom three? Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton (6%) followed by television magnate Oprah Winfrey (4%) and not surprisingly, tabloid darling Britney Spears (2%).

But don't despair Mrs. Clinton�with over 21% of the vote, America said that out of all political figures, male or female, they trust you most to run their household. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice trailed with 14% and Barack Obama was third with 11% backing the presidential hopeful as the best person to run their domestic ship. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tied with President George Bush with 9% of the vote. Republican hopefuls Fred Thompson and John McCain came in at 9% and 7% respectively, and Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney tied at 6%. And if you're wondering who underperformed in the category � Vice President Dick Cheney, with 3% of the vote, narrowly beat Senator Larry Craig, who garnered only 1% of those surveyed.

The survey also touched on topics central to the theme of the "Real Housewives" brand: cosmetic surgery, May/December romances and finances. Only 3% of women polled admitted to having plastic surgery and an impressive 42% said they wouldn't have surgery in the next two years even if money were no object. For those willing to go under the knife, tummy tucks (18%) were the most popular procedure followed closely by a breast lift/augmentation (14%) and liposuction (13%). Among men, liposuction was most valued with 10% of the vote.

When asked about women who try to look hotter than their daughters, a majority of women polled (58%) felt "hair, makeup and dress should be age appropriate" and 36% said that "everyone should look the best they can." A bold 6% of women said "if you've got it, flaunt it." Of note, twice as many men (14%) agreed with the women about their flaunting choice. And should you date a younger man? Yes, is the response from nine out of ten (91%) women, who feel that it is just fine to embark on a May/December relationship.

Finally, when it comes to finances and how they impact family matters, the survey had some interesting results. Seems most Americans aren't worried about who gets what if their marriage hits the skids, with 92% of both married men and women declaring no regrets over the lack of a prenuptial agreement.

Bravo's Pop Chart is a quarterly survey of 1,000 persons 18+ in online households, who are representative of the U.S. individual population on age, gender, geographic division, income, household size, household designation, and market size.

Bravo is a program service of NBC Universal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBC Universal one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. Bravo has been an NBC cable network since December 2002 and was the first television service dedicated to film and the performing arts when it launched in December 1980. For more information visit www.BravoTV.com.